Brazil central bank head defends inflation policy stance in Davos

Brazil’s central bank is committed to bringing down inflation, its president said, as he defended the government against criticism it had abandoned cornerstones of its economic policy.

Policymakers are not ruling out the use of traditional monetary tools to contain rising consumer prices, central bank President Alexandre Tombini told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland late on Wednesday.

Tombini said the central bank is committed to bringing inflation down to 4.5 percent this year. In the 12 months to mid-January, it accelerated to 6.02 percent from 5.78 percent one month before, putting it near the top of the bank’s target range of 4.5 percent plus or minus 2 percentage points.